Out talk today wasn't the happiest, it was mostly about his frustration with his work and life. I validated, validated and validated but the mood wasn't getting any better - I wonder if that's what should be happening.
Hi ris, I can appreciate your confusion. I've experienced those wobbles too, as our M moves from mostly 'fluff-talk' (love that from your post BTW!) to a more healthier mix of meaningful and casual convos. It's tough, when you're not as used to serious discussions, to know if you're on the right track or not.
The good thing I see in your description of the convo though, is that if you were validating that much, that also means he was talking that much! That's a good thing. People who don't feel listened to, usually just stop talking.
So again, I can appreciate how uncomfortable it can be to come away from a less-than-positive-feeling convo, but remember that even those types of communications have their place in a healthy R. Sometimes we have to have those ones, to get to the ones that feel more positive.
Also, of course I don't know the specifics of his frustrations with work etc, but remember that the deeper the frustration, the longer it takes to talk, work, and 'feel' them through. Sometimes it just takes folks that long to really figure out how they feel about something, and understand the core of it enough to know what to do to resolve it. Don't give up! You're doing great.
I cannot complain for not receiving from others, that which I've never asked them for.
